1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to interactive advertisements and, more specifically, to a system and method of facilitating the dissemination of information by means of active advertisements and portable information transceivers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A primary objective of advertising is to disseminate information or praise a product or service to potential consumers so as to get them to purchase it. The more efficient the advertising, the more widely the information is disseminated, and the more cost effective the advertising, as costs decrease to reach a given population of prospective purchasers. However, not all advertising is cost effective, and advertisers frequently spend substantial sums of money without deriving much benefit from it. In some cases, the advertising does not reach the significant portion of the population. In other cases, the advertising is directed at a portion of the population that may not be interested in purchasing the product or service, so that the advertising is not properly targeted. In still other instances, while the proper segment of the population may be targeted, the advertising is not effective because it does not convey the proper or sufficient information to a potentially interested purchaser that is in a form that can be practically used to purchase or provide follow-up for the potential consumer in deciding whether to purchase the product or service.
While numerous examples will be evident, a very common example is the use of large signs or billboards. These are frequently placed along well-traveled routes in the hope that the people passing the sign or billboard will see it, and it will generate interest in the product or service. In many instances, such billboards are along highways or roads traveled by vehicle or other means of public transportation, and there is but a very limited window of opportunity that a person can actually see and read the sign or billboard. In many cases, the window of opportunity to do this is very short, and not all of the information depicted on the billboard or poster can be read. Even when it can be read totally, it must be somehow committed to memory, so that if a person develops an interest in the product or service, it is then the responsibility of the prospective purchaser to figure out how to contact the advertiser. Where a telephone number or other contact information is included, the viewer must have a pencil, paper or the like at hand to record the information for later use. In some instances, the prospective customer will see the sign or billboard while performing other functions (e.g., driving, going to work, engaging in conversation, etc.). While the product or service may be of some interest for further consideration, it is not always a top priority at the point or at the time that the advertisement in the sign or poster is first observed. However, unless suitable contact information is provided and the viewer has the means to record that information, it can be a lost opportunity for the advertiser.
Recent developments have facilitated the dissemination of appropriate information to those that see advertisements. While many advertisements provide a telephone number, and some even provide a toll-free number, telephones are frequently answered only during normal or somewhat extended business hours. Those hours may not be convenient, as the viewer may also be occupied in his or her business or engaged in some other activity during that time.
Additionally, many people have become somewhat weary of telephone contact because of the somewhat limited and sometimes inaccurate information obtained from individuals that answer the telephones. Insofar as recorded contact information, many people now have personal digital assistants (PDAs) into which users can electronically record information for later use. However, even a simple domestic telephone number that includes an area code and seven digits may be difficult to record during a short viewing window of time. This is certainly the case if the contact information provided is a Universal Resource Locator (URL). While the URLs of most “home” pages of web sites are typically relatively short, the URLs for more “embedded” or specific pages of most web sites can be exceedingly long. In the latter case, no matter what amount of time is available to view and record the information, it can be impractical and tedious to read long URLs and record them, whether on paper or in a PDA, and the probability of error increases with the length of the URL.
Because of this, most advertisers do not direct prospective customers to specific pages of their web site, but only to their home page, hoping that the user will navigate and ultimately find the information that the advertiser is seeking to convey.
A number of systems have been proposed to address the above problems. Thus, for example, in U.S. Published Application No. 2001/005,1900, published Dec. 13, 2001 (Fisher et al), an interactive display is disclosed that is intended provide a vendor or advertiser with feedback from interested customers. The system is designed to overcome the problem that advertisers often have little feedback as to how customers feel about their advertisement and what interest, if any, the advertisement is generating in the relevant population. The system utilizes an interactive display that permits members of the public that have PDAs to receive and transmit data via a transponder located on an outdoor advertising sign or similar location. The transponder is able to communicate with a server to upload and download data. In use, the customer reads the advertisement and, if interested, the customer points an infrared transceiver on the PDA onto the interactive display. Depending on the buttons pressed, the customer can request more information to be mailed or e-mailed, submit an order or request that the advertiser contact the customer by telephone. This is achieved, in part, by storing in the PDA various personal information, including the customer's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, age, identification number (e.g., social security number), credit card information, etc. Such information is pre-stored within the mobile or portable device and, in the appropriate circumstances, can be uploaded to the advertiser's server by means of the sign or poster. While the form of communication, as described, is not critical, and includes infrared, microwave, ultrasonic, RF, sonar or laser signals, the sign or poster essentially serves as a large input/output (“I/O”) device or interface through which the viewer can communicate with the advertiser. While this may serve the purpose of the advertiser well, it is not always practical, for the reasons stated above, or beneficial to the user. The user cannot always take the time to make a decision at the time that the user is before the advertising interface. Unless it is intended that the product or service be purchased as an impulse purchase, most often consumers need time to research and consider a purchase. Also, by uploading sensitive personal information in proximity to the interactive sign or poster, this can be an inducement to some to intercept such information at the location of the sign or poster and steal the identity information of a customer. While the portable device, therefore, is intended to interact with a transmitter on the sign or poster, it is not primarily intended to store information regarding the specific advertisement but rather to immediately interact with the advertiser. There does not appear to be any indication that it is intended that information be received and stored in the PDA for later use.
Fisher et al. describes “previously passive” signs that have been made “active,” thereby allowing the user to be in the position of pressing buttons that simulate an automated menu driven phone system for any major corporation. The choices available to the user from the phone system help to speed up the process of making a request for information, as compared to picking up your standard cell phone when spotting an advertisement and listening to menu choices and selecting what you want. However, it is important to note that Fisher et al. does not disclose or even suggest the simplicity of attracting a URL into a phone display or PDA device for the sole purpose of being able to go directly into the website that was targeted in the advertisement and immediately having at one's disposal the entire catalog of what a company has to offer. Moreover, having transponders blanketing an area could become prohibitively expensive for wide spread deployment. Fisher et al basically discloses a way to “bypass the internet” by using a system that works between an active sign connected to a server and a user who has a specific device which is “in-tune” with the information emanating from the active sign. It is preferable for users to use their own equipment (i.e., a cell phone or PDA). It is also preferable to avoid having a local server or another major piece of hardware in order to get a URL into the hands of the user. Arguably, since Fisher et al., discloses that the user does not go into a website, as would be the case with the system of the present invention, the user is limited to either buying the item being displayed on the advertisement or receiving information about that item, instead of having full access to all of the goods and services offered by the company by entering the website of the vendor.
Fisher et al. also discusses a system and device for sending data (i.e., messages) to other locations within a business establishment (i.e., a diner). Yet, again Fisher et al. does not disclose or even suggest the objectives of the present invention, such as getting a user to capture a website address of a particular vendor that they (the user) consciously want to capture because of an initial interest in a sign, storefront, billboard, bus advertisement, etc.
This interactive display described above also provides the viewer with a predetermined alphanumeric code that is shown on the sign or poster, or mentioned in radio, TV or print advertising. It is not clear how such alphanumeric code is reported to the viewer. However, Fisher et al. state that an interested customer is then able to enter this code into a PDA and at some point to send the code to any like interactive display. The identifying code is then used to download relevant data to the user's PDA that can be read immediately or at a later time. This requires, therefore, that the user somehow record such code, as he or she would use a telephone, and such must then be entered into a PDA and used in proximity to another interactive sign or poster in order to download relevant information.
In U.S. Published Application No. 2002/0022961, published Feb. 21, 2002 (Sepanaho), a method is disclosed for displaying information on a portable digital device by transmission of a universal resource locator (URL) over a short-range radio frequency link. With this system and method, a short-range radio transmitter establishes a link to a portable digital device (e.g., PDA) within the transmitter's range and transmits a URL to the device. As the user device receives the transmission, software is launched that requests information from the transmitting URL via a different radio frequency link. The invention provides the person who physically approaches a specific locale with information about that specific locale or product or service that is situated at that locale. In order to achieve this, the advertising medium includes electronics for continuously scanning for compatible user devices or PDAs. As soon as a device is determined to be within a predetermine perimeter or area, a connection is established with the user device and a URL is transmitted to the user device. Similarly, the portable devices used by the public must continuously scan for transmission devices. If a device is found, it enables the device, such as a PDA, to receive a URL. It is the intention and object of the invention in Sepahano to then immediately launch the browser and load the URL so as to create an interactive relationship with the advertiser, including executing a transaction possibly involving the transfer of funds to the advertiser.
In both of the aforementioned publications, there are provided discussions of the use of radio frequency transmissions and, in particularly, the use of the Bluetooth® protocols defining a universal radio interface that enables wireless electronic devices to connect and communicate wirelessly via short-range networks.
The approaches proposed above have a number of disadvantages. Thus, as suggested, the user may frequently have a very short window of time within which to see an advertisement and consider whether there is any interest in the product or service advertised. The assumption that the user immediately wants to communicate with an advertiser and possibly execute a transaction may not be accurate. Also, while the use of this technology in proximity to a single sign or poster that has the ability to transmit this type of RF information may not present any serious problems, it will be appreciated that in a congested area, in which numerous retail establishments and other opportunities for the use of such advertisements exists, there could be many potential transmitters within a given area, given that Bluetooth® technology devices can generally transmit at ranges up to 10 meters. With the second described system, for example, the use of a PDA in such a congested area might trigger more than one transmitter and the receiving device can be exposed to numerous simultaneous transmissions that can clearly interfere with one another, not to mention that the viewer may only be interested in one of such advertisements and not the rest.